Farm Plan Offers Advance Payment

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary John Block says the government will offer hard-pressed wheat and feed-grain farmers immediate cash when they sign up for 1986 farm programs.

Farmers can ask for 40 percent of crop subsidies and all of the cash they will be paid to idle acreage this spring if they sign up for 1986 farm programs, Block said Wednesday. The sign-up period will be March 3 to April 11.

Crop subsidies, or deficiency payments, represent the difference between income support targets in the new farm law and projected market prices.

Deficiency payments traditionally are made a few months after harvest, but there has been strong political support for advance payments to give financially strapped farmers cash before spring planting.

Farmers can get cash, called diversion payments, for idling 2.5 percent of their acreage. The paid land diversion will be part of the 20 percent acreage that feed-grain producers must idle and 25 percent acreage that wheat producers must idle to qualify for price supports.

Winter wheat producers alone will be eligible for advance payment of $2 per bushel for idling 10 percent of their acreage.

In a complicated description of the 1986 farm program details, Block said 75 percent of advance deficiency payments will be paid in cash during sign-up and the remaining 25 percent will be paid as payment-in-kind beginning May 1. If farmers have crops as collateral for government price supports, those crops will be used to cover their payment-in-kind benefits. For the remainder of those payments, farmers will be given ``generic PIK`` certificates.

Unlike the 1983 payment-in-kind program under which farmers were given surplus commodities in return for idling acreage, ``generic PIK`` certificates can be redeemed for commodities through Sept. 30 or sold to others.

The new farm law enacted late last year included a ``cross-compliance``

provision, which said that wheat and corn farmers could not idle acreage to qualify for farm program benefits for one crop while planting more of another. Block said the administration would accept an amendment from Congress to forego that provision for 1986.

Block also said that 69.5 million highly erodible acres will be eligible to be placed into the conservation reserve. The administration wants 5 million acres to be enrolled in 1986. Block said conservation reserve sign-up will be March 3 through March 14.

In another announcement, Block said the price support loan for rice will be $7.20 per 100 pounds and the target price will be $11.90.

For wheat and feed grains, estimated per-bushel deficiency payments, of which farmers can get 40 percent this spring, will be $1.83 for wheat, $1.03 for corn, 95 cents for barley, 98 cents for grain sorghum and 45 cents for oats.

Per-bushel land diversion payment rates will be $1.10 for wheat, 73 cents for corn, 57 cents for barley, 65 cents for grain sorghum and 36 cents for oats.